COLORADO SPRINGS — The pirate war scene set up outside of three homes on the north side of Colorado Springs is filled with cannons, battered ships, and, of course, treasure.
"We have shot cannons, and his ship is sinking, and they are firing back at us," says Jennifer Tews as she describes the scene on the corner of Looking Glass and Black Elk Ways in the Bison Ridge neighborhood.
The storyline is the creative work of several neighbors who came together over the last year to bring some fun to their neighborhood streets on the spookiest night of the year.
Scott Rehorst: It's been late nights, and weekends for the last probably four months.
Dianne Derby: Why do you do it?
Scott Rehorst: It's fun. The kids love it. We get kids coming by here all summer long, waiting to ask what we're doing. When's it going to open.
Rehorst has been creating large Halloween displays both inside and outside his family's home for the last 7 years. It all started with an idea from his son, Dillon, to create a scene with a jumping spider.
"I just found the screams hilarious," Dillon Rehorst said.
"Halloween is all about screaming," said Scott Rehorst.
Dianne Derby: Where do you get the vision for this?
Scott Rehorst: Youtube. YouTube is a scary black hole. It sucks you in.
This year neighbors at two other homes jumped in to create displays, too.
"My neighbors are the best in the world," said Rehorst. "They're my friends first, and neighbors second. We're always hanging out, always talking, and one thing led to the other, and we just decided to do pirates.
At the Tews house, you'll see a pirate castle and smoking cannon as part of their display. A jail at their front door has the remains of two pirates.
The scene ends at the Ratcliff home as skeletons take off with the gold and jewels.
"It is a relatively small rowboat with windshield wiper motor that actually powers the oars," said Chris Ratcliff as she shows the boat set up in front of his home with the skeleton rowing away with all the treasure. "As they're trying to make their escape, one of the pirates says, 'Row faster!' and the guy does, he actually goes a little bit faster."
Ratcliff credits his neighbor for much of the work.
"Scott did all the animatronics," Ratcliff said. "He built the cannons out of cardboard tubes and Styrofoam and fiberglass. He's really the mastermind behind it, I just ride his coattails. I built the boat, which was an afternoon, but compared to the months that Scott and Shad put into this, I got off pretty easy, and at the end of the day, my guys wind up with all the treasures."
Dianne Derby: How much money do you think you've invested?
Shad Tews: Amazon is changing tires outside of our neighborhood, because they come here so often. They're going to have to set up a repair area over there. We have worn Amazon out.
A worthwhile investment they hope will create even more connections with families nearby.
"We've been here for 20 years, yeah, and it seemed like for a little while, the kids kind of disappeared," said Shad Tews. "Lately, we've been seeing more outside playing and seeing the kids interact and really get into this has been just really fun."
The families are also hoping if you stop by you will help them fill up the treasure chest at the display with canned food. They tell me it will be donated to people in need in our community.
Here is a map showing where the display is set up.
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